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Re: Soto and Rinzai

Alan Watts described himself as a 'philosophical entertainer.'

The role of whatever substance dependency or addiction he might have had may or may not have figured into the fun of playing with words.
I don't know about any of that.
He was not a zen teacher, though there are many zen teachers who are reported to have been 'drunks.'

Re: Soto and Rinzai

I think maybe by word games you mean people saying things that are nonesense?

So I am still waiting to hear these so-called word games? And where have you heard people going on and on about how wonderful Mu is? Koan study is very rare (MAYBE a dozen places in the USA offer it). I use to attend ZCLA where many people were doing koan study and I didn't hear anyone say anything like that. Have you been reading gateless gate over and over :wink: ?

Re: Soto and Rinzai

Originally Posted by Jinho

And where have you heard people going on and on about how wonderful Mu is? Koan study is very rare (MAYBE a dozen places in the USA offer it). I use to attend ZCLA where many people were doing koan study and I didn't hear anyone say anything like that. Have you been reading gateless gate over and over :wink: ?

cheers,
rowan

Hiya Rowan

I was talking mostly about what i read. Im too remote to hear much "in person". thats why im here! For reference id say just the way i read some of Aitken Roshi's writings and a few persons postings on some forums.. ZFI maybe??. As it stands I read a koan and read commentary on it after then think about it. thats all i can do right now and im sure im missing the point (as you already said about cultural differences and my lack of previous exposure to much of it) Oh and I usually dont read many books (damn internet) but since starting practice i read a lot more. That said I havent read enough books to warrant re-reading any of em! So you did koan practice yes? I'd really like to hear more of it if you wouldnt mind sharing. either here or pm, of course if you dont mind ops: